AN Ammanford playgroup has been given a positive rating in its recent Estyn inspection.

Cylch Meithrin Parcyrhun in Ammanford was inspected by the regulator in October, with the results recently published.

The Estyn report told that the care facility was given good in all aspects of the inspection, with the exception of ‘learning’, as this only applies to children aged three and four who do not receive education in a maintained setting and there was not enough children present who fit the criteria at the time of the inspection.

Estyn found that most children are happy and enjoy playing and learning and interact well with practitioners and visitors. The report found that they are eager to talk to adults and play happily with their friends and can express their feelings confidently. The report highlighted how the children share their feelings during registration each morning and the children were happy and comfortable in the care of the practitioners and understand the procedures at Cylch like washing hands before snack time after tidying up and they also understand and follow the rules.

The report also highlighted the children’s independence and their enjoyment of learning new skills.

Staff at Cylch follow thorough systems to ensure children’s health and safety and have a good understanding of their responsibilities and provide opportunities for the children to develop according to their age and ability. The report also found that the staff keep good records of any concerns, accidents and incidents and have up to date child protection training, first aid and food hygiene certificates and there is no cause for concern with the safeguarding arrangements.

The report also highlighted that the staff have “a wonderful relationship with the children in their care.”

The staff’s involvement in each individual child’s development was also praised, highlighting their knowledge of each child’s needs and preferences, the work between the staff and parents to ensure all that is needed to be known is known, and the planning of individual activities for each child to correspond to their stage of development. They also ensure that the children have a good understanding of the importance of treating people of all backgrounds with respect and tolerance and teach understanding of festivals such as Holi, Diwali and St David’s Day.

The report states that it found that staff do not always encourage children to try to respond in Welsh or provide sufficient opportunities for children to develop all their skills effectively in the outdoor area.

It noted, however, that the staff use sensible teaching methods and motivate the children to develop a wide range of useful skills and provide engaging activities.

Helen Palmer, manager at Cylch, said: “We are very proud of our recent inspection scoring and feedback, our staff work very hard to ensure every child in our care gets the best opportunity to develop holistically throughout their time with us. We are honoured to have helped nearly 500 children since we opened 23 years ago.

“As a setting we pride ourselves on delivering excellent early year’s education and childcare for every child and family that attends our Cylch. We continue to work closely with Mudiad Meithrin to provide every child in our community with an opportunity to benefit from our superior early years’ service and experiences through the medium of Welsh to create new Welsh speakers.

“We also continue to work alongside the Welsh Government’s flying start scheme. Through this we are dedicated to providing intensive support for children aged 2-3 years, focusing on promoting language, cognitive, social and emotional skills, physical development and the early identification of high needs.

“We would like to thank all parents for their continued support of our setting, and most importantly a big thank you to all our lovely children, who make our job a wonderful experience every day.”